Top 10 Food & Beverage Trends

Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach director of food and beverage Laurent Boisdron highlights his top 10 trends to watch out for:

1 The celebrity chef concept is a fad — I believe more on what we are offering in terms of product, traceability and food safety and of course the right pricing in an elegant setting with the right ambiance. Some branded outlets in other hotels could definitely be an asset, with a well-known name and chefs which would guarantee instant success. Good examples are Buddha bar at Grosvenor House, BICE at Hilton and Locatelli at Atlantis.

2 Tastings and an emphasis on samplers — specialty beer flights, wine flights for example. Sharing is important; people like to experience and taste different things from tapas to dim sum, such as our Irish finger bites and Parisian mini pastries.

3 One bite reception for the guest to create his own cocktail party from a selection of spoons, sticks, leaves, mini canapés, mini balls, skewers, cups, shooters and a range of live cooking stations — people want choice.

4 A reinvented lunch option with our lunch sampler — more on the healthy side served all at once.

5 Presentation — people eat first with their eyes so present their food in a fresh and visually appealing way using open kitchens and ‘on display’ cooking, where customers can choose from an array of fresh ingredients before their dish is prepared in front of them.

6 Fusion: blending cuisines is still a hot culinary trend — examples are Thai and French, Americas like Peruvian and Brazilian cuisines, and Indian / Southeast Asian.

7 Anything fresh, locally grown / sourced products and authentic food.

8 Global comfort food especially in room service and home-made everything.

9 Reassurance, intimacy and friendship — we need to feed guests’ knowledge and emotion.

10 Restaurant theatre is not new but I think this is a great idea if a hotel has multiple outlets.